Poppy wreath desecrated by vandals at Vale Church

When workmen arrived at the church on Friday morning, they saw that metallic paint had been thrown around the grounds near the church, and splattered up some of the walls and a door.

On further inspection, they found some items from the church’s harvest display had been taken from inside the church, destroyed and cast aside as rubbish on the ground.

The church’s people’s warden, former Vale deputy Jeremy Smithies, was incredibly disappointed to hear about the criminal actions.

‘Someone – and we don’t yet know who – got into the church and took some cards advertising an upcoming event, a couple of bottles of hand sanitiser, some pumpkins from the harvest display and the decorative poppy wreath,’ he said.

‘They made quite a mess outside but thankfully there has been no permanent damage and the builders were able to clean the metallic paint off the walls and door for us.’

Also on the floor outside the church were matches, which was particularly concerning to Mr Smithies.

‘I think this [vandalism] is just a case of someone or a group mucking about, albeit at the church’s detriment, but it’s really not good that they were playing with matches and paint.’

There is evidence on the paper wreath of burning, as well as it being torn up and pieces scattered around and shoved in drains.

Dean of Guernsey, the Very Reverend Tim Barker, shared his disappointment over the incident.

While the poppy wreath was not the official remembrance wreath, it carries a certain significance that nobody should treat poorly.

‘The desecration of the wreath is completely unacceptable and I am very disappointed that someone should have caused such damage,’ he said.

‘You are not just attacking a thing, you are attacking the sentiment, meaning and significance of whatever it is that thing represents.’

He called the vandalism unnecessary and believed it would make a lot of people very angry.

Whoever is responsible for the damage is also thought to have climbed up the scaffolding, which was erected for paintwork to water pipes and the checking of the roof slates.

Mr Smithies said: ‘The rector heard something on the Thursday and, quite sensibly, did not come down to investigate until it had gone quiet.

‘We do not lock the church until 5pm and re-open at 9am for those who would like to visit, and I suppose it would be a lot worse if this had happened inside the church, but it is a very disappointing annoyance that someone would do this here.’

While there is CCTV on loop in the church, the loop had expired by the time it was thought to check it.

There is not currently CCTV outside the church as it was believed to be an unnecessary expense, but Mr Smithies said it is unfortunately now something that will need to be considered.

On a similar vein, someone is thought to be tampering with the sound system inside the church.

‘The rector has noticed on a couple of Sundays that the sound system has been changed – we don’t know if someone is going in and playing music in the church or just messing about with it, but it’s something we wish would not happen,’ he added.

n Anyone with information about the attack is asked to contact PC Robinson on 725111 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111